About Us » History

The Prosperity Roundtable of Peterborough Region held it’s first discussion forum in March 2007.

The discussions focused primarily on identifying the economic opportunities and growth drivers available to the region, in a way that engages the business community, in order to increase jobs and prosperity in the Greater Peterborough Area. Many local businesspeople and government officials brainstormed and identified over seventy opportunities for growth in the Greater Peterborough Area.

A second Roundtable discussion held in May 2007 identified and prioritized six areas of opportunity for prosperity and growth for the Peterborough region, which include:

1. Promote managed growth through the development of public and private infrastructure.
2. Working with the City, County, local governments and other stakeholders to develop a Community Vision and related development principals that will provide a context for future growth.
3. Working with the City, County, municipal governments and private sector investors, facilitate an increase in the availability of Serviced Industrial Land including a new industrial park, airport land, and Trent University land.
4. Building on the transportation studies completed by the City and County, develop a comprehensive transportation strategy that includes roads, highways, rail and air.
5. Working with the City and County’s political leaders and their management teams, assist in the creation of a more competitive Municipal Environment which facilitates growth by addressing local taxation, development processes, and other key variables such as labour costs and skill levels, access to health and education facilities and social and cultural infrastructure.
6. Working with the Downtown Business Improvement Association and other stakeholders, develop a vision for a Downtown Revitalization plan.

Out of these six focused opportunities, six action plans were developed, and six task teams formed to undertake the objective of carrying out these action plans.

A third Roundtable plenary was held on March 26, 2008, where the chairs for each of the six individual task teams provided updates on their research over the year. A seventh task team, concerning Sustainability, was instituted.

As this initiative progresses, the number of operating task teams has been reduced from seven to four. This alteration was implemented to reduce research duplication and ensure the adoption of the most efficient processes.

In December 2008, at a special meeting of Peterborough City Council and Peterborough County Council, the Prosperity Roundtable presented its first annual fall report, detailing 28 key observations and findings of the task teams. It was decided that the Prosperity Roundtable would serve as liaison between the business community and the decision making bodies of the region, allowing for a continued dialogue on issues related to economic drivers and growth in the Peterborough region.